In a rare gesture Pakistan Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has urged the country to improve relations with India.
During his address in parliamentary forum, Qamar Javed Bajwa said, ‘The military is ready to back political leadership’s initiative for normalisation of relations with India,’
Gen Bajwa was invited by senate chairman Raza Rabbani and was accompanied by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Naveed Mukhtar. Top military officers, Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Major General Asim Munir. The session continued for nearly four-and-a-half hours.
Quoting senators, leading Pakistan daily Dawn said Gen Bajwa told legislators that he wants relations with all neighbours to be normalised and urged politicians to try to improve relations with India. He assured them that their efforts would be fully supported by the army. The army chief’s offer was particularly significant given a general perception that the army was against peace efforts with India. But Gen Bajwa said a large part of Indian military deployments was mostly against Pakistan. He also accused India of fomenting instability and terrorism in Pakistan.